Animals in Time Piece

Jim Henson's 1965 short film Time Piece, in addition to its many human figures, also features several shots of live animals. Some of this footage was likely recycled from other sources, and Henson’s use of it in rapid cuts provides a contrast to the many leisurely-paced animal films used on Sesame Street.

Picture

Character

Notes

Canary

A bright yellow canary flies into the hospital room, and sits on a ledge. The bird whistles cheerfully.

Leopard

A wild leopard is briefly glimpsed, presaging a scene of the Man swinging like Tarzan. He reflects the aspects of suburbia as a modern jungle.

Dog

A dog is glimpsed twice, both times paralelling the Man's actions and feelings. In the first shot, during the dinner sequence, the dog hungrily gnaws on a bone. Later, in the nightclub, the dog pants excitedly during the striptease, a manifestation of the man's own barely repressed desires.

Elephant

In one of the more familiar images from the film, excerpted in The World of Jim Henson, the man paints an elephant pink, in three different shots. The elephant remains placid and aloof, seemingly unconcerned by the man's forays into performance art. Water-soluble paint was used for the sequence. The pink pachyderm, apart from literalizing a cliche associated with drunkenness, provides comic relief following the heady nightclub sequence.